Not such a good idea
by SomuchSarcasm
Summary: Mokuba's birthday party at an amusement park...with the whole gang. A vacation for Seto? Probably not. Yaoi*


_Author's note:_ I wasn't going to post this, because it's dry, but there you go. Best intentions and all that. I may do a sequel with little more steam, can't decide yet.

"Go ta hell yer bastard!"

Kaiba blinked at Jou's vehement retort and watched bemusedly as the blonde followed his chibi friend from the classroom, it must have been in response to some snide comment he had just made.

The only problem?

Kaiba couldn't remember what the hell he might have said. It was happening more and more these days, every time he saw the mutt's mouth open all he could think of was covering it with his own and shoving his tongue deep enough inside to tickle his tonsils.

Hence the selective memory loss.

It didn't matter all that much, he supposed, it's not as if it was hard to keep up the appearance and piss the puppy off, not when he had this aura around him that seemed to beg Kaiba to do just that. That and his excitable nature of course. Kaiba smirked to himself and gathered his things, he wondered how the puppy would yowl in bed…

"Sir, Master Mokuba is here to see you, should I send him in?" Kaiba shifted his gaze from his work as the intercom squeaked, he pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve his tired eyes and smiled one of his rare smiles, "yes."

Even before he had given his answer the door was flung open and his brother bounced in, his usual cheerful self helped along by the bag of candy he held in one hand. "Hi nii-san!" Mokuba chirped, hugging his amused sibling and pressing his sticky mouth against Kaiba's cheek. Kaiba grimaced and swiped at the spot while Mokuba just smirked at him from where he'd planted his butt on the edge of the desk. "What are you doing here? It's late." Mokuba rolled his eyes at his big brother's tone. "I came to visit," he replied, "it _is_ late and a certain someone won't come home!" Kaiba felt a twinge of guilt at his brother's words.

"Sorry Kid, let me finish up here and we can leave."

Mokuba smirked his victory and got up from the desk to prowl the office as his brother put everything in order.

Seto pet his head, "come along then," he said and made for the door. His secretary looked up from her desk as the two brothers left the office, she gave Mokuba a thankful smile and started packing up her own things. "You shouldn't work her so hard, nii-san," Mokuba chided gently, it was almost ten o'clock! Kaiba snorted, "she'll work while I work, she's welcome to quit if she thinks she can get a bigger salary somewhere else." Mokuba rolled his eyes, he felt sorry for the poor girl having to match Seto's intense work hours. Though instead of replying he brought up the real reason he'd come fetch Seto.

"Um, nii-san?"

Seto looked down at his brother immediately becoming suspicious of the expression on his face. "What?" He asked warily, his eyes narrowing automatically, not that it intimidated the younger Kaiba at all, he was too used to his brother's personality.

"Weeeeellll, I just wanted to tell you I've decided on what we should do for my birthday." Seto relaxed fractionally, this couldn't be too bad then. Every year he took some time off and they went somewhere, it was the only vacation he took and he treasured the few days away from Kaiba Corp.

"Alright, what?"

Mokuba scuffed a shoe against the carpet of the elevator, he kept his eyes downcast, knowing the shy act was the best way to get the idea over. "!" The words tumbled out in a rush, Seto raised his eyebrow in surprise, what was so difficult about saying that? They'd always do something like this…wait…

"Define _us_," Seto snapped, his stomach sinking faster than the little room around them. Mokuba blinked up at him, "me, you, Yugi, Yami-san, Honda…"

"NO!"

"Nii-san! _Please?_"

Seto glowered at the expression on his little brother's face,

"absolutely not, I will not torture myself by climbing on a plane with those morons and…!"

"Seto, it's my birthday! You said I could have anything!"

Mokuba's face was scrunched up and he looked like he was going to cry any second now. _Oh no_, Seto could feel his resolve weakening just thinking that Mokuba might cry.

"Come on, _please_, nii-san. I promise it'll be fun! I promise!"

Seto sighed, he'd lost and he knew it, "okay, but I'll pay for flights for the morons and we'll take the jet." No need in spending more time than absolutely necessary with _them_. Now it was Mokuba's turn to snort, "that's just silly, if we're taking the jet then we might as well go together." Seto pinched the bridge of his nose again, he was always amazed how fast Mokuba could go from almost crying to completely demanding. _Dammit,_ he was definitely a Kaiba.

Seto didn't know if he should be proud or pissed.

Seto Kaiba did not often miscalculate, but here he had managed wonderfully.

He sat and watched those luscious lips as they spoke to the chibi, he was mesmerised by the different shapes they made as the puppy yakked away and when the tongue tip came out every so often so wet them Kaiba's whole being shuddered internally.

Fuck. He'd really forgotten that he'd have to put up with the mutt as well, well he'd have to restrain himself around the mutt anyway, before he did something idiotic. Such as dragging the puppy off to some dark corner to molest him thoroughly.

Bad idea. He'd never be forgiven and a rape charge was not something that would look good on his media profile.

The moment they had boarded the luxurious jet Kaiba had shut out the 'oohs' and 'aahs', Mokuba could deal with the awe, Kaiba had made it clear, even before take-off, that they were his responsibility. So he'd taken his seat, strapped himself in and after take-off immediately opened his laptop, though not as much to ignore Mokuba's friends as it had seemed. It had just proven not to be the best time to take a vacation, but Kaiba had decided long ago that he'd be damned if he didn't at least spend his brother's birthday with him. He spent too little time with his younger brother as it was. So against his and the younger Kaiba's will, he'd brought the work along and would be supervising half finished projects telephonically whenever he had to. It was the best compromise he'd been able to come up with, when he had suggested staying home and sending Mokuba with his friends, his brother had flown off in a rage and they'd left it there. Life could be…unpleasant with the little one pissed at him.

"Um, Kaiba-kun?"

Kaiba raised his eyes from the puppy's mouth to find that the chibi had twisted in his seat and the whole plane had gone silent. Everyone was looking their way. Kaiba sighed.

"What?"

"Is this really alright?" Yugi looked uncomfortable, "um, this trip must be costing quite a lot of money…" He trailed off awkwardly.

Kaiba looked around for his brother, but couldn't find him anywhere. Dammit, now who was supposed to translate for the geeks?

"Worried about my monetary status, are we?"

"Ah," Yugi paused, still awkward. He looked over at his friends, but no one seemed to be willing to chip in, not even his Yami, who gave Kaiba a carefully blank look. Finally Kaiba looked back at Yugi, he was just in time to see a similar awkward, worried look in the mutt's eyes.

The fight left Kaiba, now he didn't need the puppy to look like that, it gave him hope that there could be something other animosity between them.

"Money is irrelevant, just enjoy my brother's birthday with him." He finally said and dropped his eyes back to his work. _Let's not all become friends and share life stories now. _He heard Yugi drop back into his seat and Mokuba finally came back from wherever the hell he had been conveniently hiding and Kaiba sighed again. Now, hopefully they had no other reason to speak to him.

They had just driven through the gates leading up to the luxurious hotel next to the resort when his phone started ringing. He supposed he had been lucky that the damn phone hadn't started ringing earlier, but now it was and he could feel Mokuba's gaze burn holes in him as he climbed out at the entrance and stand aside to answer it. He looked at the glowering kid and made a shooing motion.

"Go ahead, I'll be there in a moment."

Mokuba looked like he wanted to argue, but it was late and they were all tired from the flight, he knew his friends would like to get some rest for the next day's activities. So he nodded resignedly and turned back to usher his friends inside.

"The reservation is under Kaiba!"

He called out to his brother before the other was out of earshot and smirked in satisfaction when the kid flinched, it did the brat good to know that everything wasn't always going to go his way.

"What's with ta look, Kid?" Jou grinned at Mokuba annoyed expression, "it's nii-san," the boy muttered and Jou laughed, "ain't it always?" Mokuba rolled his eyes, "He made the reservation under Kaiba!"

"That a problem?"

Mokuba noticed the others had also started to listen and grimaced. "You know they send him a list to fill out whenever a new five star place opens? Usually the employees call it code Kaiba." Yami was the only one who chuckled, thoroughly amused at his rival's notorious personality. Mokuba whined at his amusement, "It's not funny! Watch!"

He walked up to the receptionist and gave the young woman a sweet smile. He appeared to all the world to be no more that a good-natured fourteen year old. "Good evening, how may I help?" The woman asked kindly, Mokuba blinked up at her and said innocently, "hi there, the reservation under Kaiba?" Immediately the controlled, professional woman came slightly apart. "Ah, welcome, please wait a while, our manager will be here soon to greet you personally and the bellboy will be here in a moment to take your luggage, would you like anything while you wait? All complementary of course!" She babbled and the gang stared at her in surprise, Mokuba only looked resigned, it happened every time! And nii-san had definitely done this on purpose!

"No thanks, my brother is outside if the manager wants to meet him, but my friends and I would just like to go to our rooms."

The woman positively squeaked, "Mr Kaiba is outside? Really?" She pushed the button on the intercom again as if to tell her boss to hurry his ass up and tried to arrange her face into its previous expression of cool professionalism, obviously grateful that she wouldn't have to deal with Kaiba senior.

"Right this way please," They followed the woman to the elevator as she explained the workings of the hotel to them before sending them off to the penthouse with an relieved smile.

"There are four rooms," Yami stated carefully, sweeping his gaze over the spacious suite. Mokuba nodded, "yup. One for Anzu and Mai-chan, one for you and Yugi, one for Otogi and Honda and the master bedroom for me, nii-san and Jou-kun."

"Wait a damn minute, why do I gotta be with Kaiba!" Jou exclaimed outraged. Mokuba looked up at him, "well, you can't be with the girls and unless you wanna be with one of the couples…"

"Nuh-uh, that's fine!" Jou cut in hastily, imagining the looks his friends would give him if he even thought of doing that, not that he wanted to be with the lovebirds anyway.

"I'm sure they'll bring up a dog basket for you in a moment, Mutt, then you might as well sleep in the living area."

Jou whirled around, snarl already in place as his gaze met that of a smirking Kaiba. "Ya shut yer mouth, Moneybags, or we'll see who's sleeping where!" Kaiba only kept that infuriating smirk in place and brushed past the irate puppy. He pet Mokuba on the head and headed to their bedroom.

Jou glowered at the closed door, even more unhappy now that he had to room with the older Kaiba, "would it kill him ta be a little civil," he muttered and Mokuba grinned at him, "sounded to me like he was using his civil tone," he said innocently and Jou sent his glare downwards, "sometimes yer just as bad as yer brother," he muttered and stalked after Kaiba towards their room.

"I'll just take that is a compliment then!" Mokuba called after him and grinned at his remaining friends, "night guys!"

Jou blinked blearily, snuggling into the warmth surrounding him until memory of last night came back and he jerked his gaze upwards to stare at the underside of the tall brunette's chin as he was snuggled up against him. Jou let out a small noise and stared down at the long fingered hand clutching him around the waist and keeping him close. If it had been anyone else in Kaiba's grip Jou would have teased the CEO mercilessly about his cuddling habit, but since it was Jou himself, he decided it was something he could keep between them. He removed his head from underneath the other's chin cautiously and started to extract himself gently from Kaiba's embrace, only to jerk to a stop when he heard a small noise coming from the couch at the other side of the room, Jou twisted his head and caught Mokuba grinning at him sleepily.

The younger boy had insisted on taking the couch, stating that, since he was the shortest he'd be the most comfortable on it. Jou had argued that he didn't mind, but the younger Kaiba had worn him down with his obstinacy and finally a grumbling Jou had inserted himself on the far end of the queen sized bed, well away from the sleeping form of the CEO. Not that where he had started out seemed to have mattered in the end.

Suddenly not caring whether he woke the elder Kaiba, Jou jumped out of the bed and glared at the brat, making a cutting motion with his hand warning the younger Kaiba not to ever speak of this incident again. He stalked into the bathroom and blew out a breath as he leaned against the closed door. If he hadn't known better he would say that Mokuba had chosen the penthouse for just the reason that he'd have to sleep with Kaiba. But Mokie couldn't be that manipulative, right?

_Right?_

Mokuba curled back into his nest of blankets all the while grinning to himself in satisfaction, his sleeping brother had patted the bed in search of Jou's warmth before finally curling himself around one of the bed's pillows. It was maybe a good thing that he was such a heavy sleeper, because Mokuba could just imagine the poison his untruthful nii-san would have spouted if he'd found himself cuddling the blonde. Nope, nii-san needed to be led around in much more roundabout way or else he'd keep those high walls up and no one would get in. Mokuba was intent on getting them together, though and he'd learned to get his way from the best.

"Wooooooh! This is great!" Mai exclaimed looking over the room service menu, "you know a place is real fancy if there aren't even prices on room service menu." She giggled and looked at her friends, "shall we order guys?"

The others crowded around her, everyone laughing and joking as they picked out breakfast. Jou hung back, he wasn't used to going crazy with someone else's money and somewhere inside it curdled that he's have to accept this charity from Kaiba, Jounouchi Katsuya did not _do_ charity. Especially coming from a certain arrogant prick. Finally everyone had their turn at the menu and Yami handed it to Jou, "breakfast is important, Jou-kun!" Yugi said with a grin, hanging from his Yami. "And it is free," the yami pointed out calmly. "And you're gonna need it!" Mokuba said, sealing the deal. Jou grudgingly ordered something just to get the others to shut up. If they were surprised at how little it was, no one commented on it, although there were many comments about the amount of food Mokuba ordered, causing him to grin and shrug.

They had barely placed their order when there was a knock on the door. "That was quick," Yami commented as the door was opened to reveal a nervous looking waiter. "Coffee and the paper for Mr. Kaiba," the boy said looking around nervously. Kaiba appeared in the doorway, barefoot, wearing a pair of dark jeans and a black high necked shirt, it was the most casual clothes Jou had ever seen him wear and he couldn't help licking his lips at the way that shirt clung to his lean torso, the guy was unfortunately just too sexy to _not_ stare at. Not that Kaiba paid them any mind as he swooped down on the poor waiter. He picked up the Arabica brew with one hand and rummaged through the papers until he had what he wanted under his arm, then he withdrew to the balcony where it was made clear to the others that they were not welcome.

Not that it mattered much since their breakfast didn't take much longer to arrive. As the team of waiters placed the dishes on the dining room table Mokuba went outside to call Kaiba. "I ordered some breakfast, nii-san," the others heard him say cheerfully, they strained for a response, but nothing intelligible could be made out.

"Well, okay then, if you're sure."

Another muffled response.

"Okay, okay! I get it, sheesh."

Mokuba strolled back into the dining room and shrugged, his expression still cheerful.

"Nii-san doesn't want any breakfast."

He carefully avoided looking at Jou and the small sandwich resting before him on the table.

"What a pity that all this food has to be thrown out now." He murmured as he took his own seat, keeping his eyes on his plate. Jou made a noise in his throat as he pushed his already empty plate aside and reached for the untouched food.

"What?" He asked defensively, when the others looked at him, "you heard 'im, they're gonna throw it out and that's a waste. I'm just finishing what nobody else wants!" Yugi and the others nodded solemnly at him, not daring to go against his words, but they grinned at each other when he wasn't looking and Yugi bumped fists with Mokuba under the table.

Kaiba watched from the balcony and told himself sternly that it wasn't spying, because you couldn't possibly be spying when it was your right to look where you wanted. Besides, he was just watching them, more specifically the Mutt. He'd been surprised that Mokuba had bothered to order breakfast for him, his brother knew that he didn't take anything but coffee in the morning. Then he'd seen the Mutt's pitiful breakfast and watched the brat's masterful manipulation to get him to eat more and he'd been forced to admire the careful way everyone avoided the subject as the puppy wolfed his way through three plates of bacon and eggs, as it was his first good meal in days. Kaiba frowned, he heard rumours, but had not yet had the time to pursue them. Either way, they had better not be true, since murder was always such a bother to cover up and if these specific rumours turned out to be true, then someone would die.

His train of thought was broken as Mokuba leaned around the doorway, an infuriating little smile of his features, as if he knew exactly what the elder Kaiba had been doing.

"We're gonna be heading out in a few minutes, nii-san. You have to get ready!"

Kaiba sighed and gathered his empty cup and papers. He was _not_ looking forward to this day.

Jou stared up at the immensely tall ride and gulped, "you guys wanna ride tha' thing?" He asked, his voice coming out a lot higher the he would have liked. Yugi and Mokuba grinned crazily at him.

"Yup!" Came the simultaneous reply. Jou gulped again, now looking decidedly green around the mouth. "Ya know, I'ma little bit afraid of heights, I'll jus stay down here and wait for ya ta come back." The two chibis pouted immediately and Jou almost shied away from the sheer amount of adorableness coming from the two of them.

"Awwwwww, come on Jou-kun!"

Jou looked around, wildly searching for something, _anything_, that could help him, finally Honda came to his rescue by clapping him lightly on the back and turning to the others. "Come guys, think about how much he's eaten today, you really wanna climb onto that thing with him?" He had a point and the others pulled faces as they imagined the outcome.

"On second thought, it's okay Jou-kun, you can just wait with nii-san," Mokuba said hastily. They looked over at where Kaiba was standing in a small circle of open space, even in the crowded park people unconsciously recognized and avoided danger. Either that or it could have been the steely expression and low, continuous snarl as Kaiba worked through what seemed like the thirtieth company call that day. "Oh, fun," Jou muttered, eyeing the coaster as if he were weighing two evils. He turned back to Yugi and the gang, only to find that they'd already joined to line for the ride.

Sighing in resignation Jou made his way over to the CEO and sat down on a conveniently empty bench near the tall brunette, well, probably _because_ of the brunette.

"And then you…

Please, continue…

Yes, I said…

No! Not that one…

Yes, yes, good. Thank you for your time."

Jou winced at the honey dripping from Kaiba tone as he ended the call. The brunette dropped down onto the bench and stretched his long legs out, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This is supposed to be a vacation." Jou thought he heard the other mutter and he turned his head to watch him. He wanted to ask if Kaiba was okay, feeling an odd sense of sympathy for the obviously worn out man, but he held his tongue. Kaiba certainly didn't want his sympathy and he certainly didn't need another scathing remark tossed at his head. Finally Kaiba looked at him, "where are the others?" He asked, probably meaning, 'where's my brother'. Jou pointed to the coaster of doom, not quite hiding his grimace at the thought of the thing. Kaiba looked at him for a moment then snorted and shook his head. Jou waited for snide comment, but nothing happened. Not even a little jibe about bein a coward. _He must really be tired_, Jou thought, especially if he couldn't even work up the energy to insult him. He watched as the brunette levered himself off the bench.

"I'm going back to the hotel, tell Mokuba when he comes back."

Jou nodded wordlessly and jerked a little when Kaiba dropped his wallet in his lap.

"Don't forget to have lunch, I do not need the pound hounding my ass for not feeding starving dogs."

Jou opened his mouth to say that he was _not _a dog! But Kaiba was already disappearing through the crowd so he shut his mouth and slid down further on the bench, he'd let it slide this one time.

"Where's nii-san?" A breathless Mokuba asked as the gang met Jou at his bench. Jou shrugged and held out the wallet. "Went back to da hotel, something about more sleep," he muttered, pretty sure that his guess was correct. Mokuba's face fell a little, but he didn't say a word. Jou felt bad for the kid, he was obviously disappointed but was still trying to be understanding of his brother's actions. Yami broke the silence by ruffling Mokuba's hair, "come on, let us eat something. We still have many rides to try out." Mokuba brightened slightly at the thought, "you're right," he said with a slight smile and visibly perked himself up. "Let's eat!" Jou rolled his eyes but followed after the bouncy teen, no way would he ever be one to turn down free food.

"I'm gonna take a shower." Jou muttered heaving himself up from the tangle of bodies that were sprawled in the suite's living area. It had been a tiring, though enjoyable, day and no one worked up the energy to answer with something other than a hand wave. Jou opened the door to the master bedroom and saw Kaiba sprawled diagonally across the bed, a multitude of papers surrounding him. Jou grinned, it looked the CEO had simply passed out in the middle of something. Quietly he gathered his clothes and slipped into the ensuite bathroom.

The warm water was relaxing and Jou turned his face up towards the soothing spray. He reached for the soap and had just lathered his upper body when the door opened revealing a sleepy eyed Kaiba who stumbled past him, not appearing to notice that someone was in the shower. "Kaiba! What da hell are ya doin'?" Jou screeched, dropping the soap and covering his privates.

"Using the toilet," the brunette replied, his voice thick with sleep. Any other time Jou would have been surprised at the usually cold brunette's attitude, but now he felt he had more pressing matters to attend to. "Well get out!" Jou shouted at him to no avail as the elder Kaiba ignored him. Jou cursed, he sorely wanted to get out, but was still covered in soap and didn't feel like he could just expose himself in front of Kaiba to wash it off.

Kaiba finished his business and trundled past the embarrassed blonde again, he looked in Jou's direction for a moment, but didn't seem to register anything interesting and he quickly lost interest, exiting the bathroom and leaving a very irate Jou inside. Jou grumbled to himself as he washed off the soap and stepped out into the room, reaching for a towel. Only after he had dried off did he notice he had forgotten a shirt. "Dammit, how da ya ferget a shirt, ya moron," he berated himself and slammed the bathroom door open, childishly hoping Kaiba had gone back to sleep so he could wake him.

Kaiba was indeed on the bed, but not quite asleep anymore. He lay on his side and watched as Jou strode into the room, his eyes half lidded. Jou shot an embarrassed glare at the brunette before he rummaged in his bag for the clothing article. He barely registered the movement coming from the bed until Kaiba was crouched by his side, the eyes that were so sleepy moments ago as sharp and even harder than usual.

"What the hell is this?"

Jou jerked back at the proximity, not understanding Kaiba's anger. "Wha?" He asked intelligently, looking down at himself. _Oh, the bruises_.

"So it's true?" Jou looked back up at Kaiba, fearing slightly for his life at the expression on the brunette's face.

"Wha?" He asked again, now completely lost.

"That scumbag you call a father, he did this?"

Understanding dawned.

"Oh no! Look, mah old man's a drunk, but he don't care enough ta beat me! Jeez, Kaiba don't jump to weird conclusions, these are just from a normal fight, ya know?"

Kaiba looked at Jou a moment longer, but when it didn't seem like he was lying, the brunette just snorted and threw himself on the bed, his back to Jou. "Stupid, Mutt, making a person worry for nothing." Jou almost thought he heard him mutter. He grinned to himself, eyeing the brunette's back for a moment, if he wasn't mistaken the other was exhibiting classic signs of embarrassment. Nevertheless, his chest felt pleasantly warm at the thought that Kaiba might not be as cold and heartless as his normal attitude suggested.

Mokuba pattered into the room some time after Jou had left and sprawled onto the bed next to Kaiba, peering lazily over his arm to see what he was reading. After a few minutes the squirming became too much for Kaiba and he put the papers down.

"Did you have fun today?"

Mokuba grinned, mission accomplished and stretched himself out over Kaiba's lap. "Yup," he said with a semi-yawn, "it was really fun, I can't wait to do the rest of the park tomorrow." Kaiba smiled and the sight of his brother's happiness, then a thought scratched at his consciousness for attention.

"Speaking of tomorrow, since it is the actual date of your birth, what do you want?"

"Ah," Mokuba grinned again and shrugged, "this trip was more than enough nii-san, thanks."

Seto frowned, "I believe that usually some additional token is the custom."

Mokuba rolled his eyes at his brother's formal speech, "Weeeeeelllll, if you really want to give me something, then it'd have to be your happiness." Seeing Seto's inquiring expression, he rephrased.

"I want to see you happy, nii-san."

"I understood that, I just don't quite know _how_."

"Well, how about," Mokuba hesitated a bit before taking the plunge, "how about you ask Jou-kun out for dinner tomorrow evening!"

Seto stared at him, "you believe that would make me happy?" He couldn't believe Mokuba had picked up on his deviance. Mokuba gave him a look that bespoke his fourteen years of age.

"I know that would make you happy, nii-san."

Seto squeezed his eyes shut once and rolled his shoulders. There was no backing out now, he was the one who had pushed the issue after all. "I'll do it, but do not expect too much to come from it, you know there are many issues between the mutt and I."

Mokuba gave him an arch grin, "well, you can start rectifying that by asking him out to dinner and by not calling him 'mutt'."

Seto heaved himself off the bed and gave his brother a withering look that slid right off the cheerful teen.

"I _do not_ need relationship advice from a brat."

"Then get yourself a shrink, cuz you need it from _someone_."

The mutt and the chibi were playing Playstation with Yami watching over them lazily from a sprawled out position on the couch. Seto grit his teeth and steeled himself. "Mu-Jounouchi, may I have a moment of your time." The puppy looked amazed at his use of his name and after a few moments of thought, through which Seto had to restrain himself from tapping his foot, he followed Seto into their bedroom. Mokuba had conveniently vacated the room so he could use it for his own personal humiliation.

The moment the door was closed Seto spun around to face the puppy.

"Well, I was wondering if you would…maybe we could…"

He was stuttering! He didn't know if he or the puppy were more taken aback. With a final growl Seto bit out, "have dinner tomorrow evening, together, you and I."

The puppy stared at him blankly for long moments.

"No." He said bluntly, "I don't know what ya're scheming, but I ain't playin'. If you want company that badly get yerself a callgirl, I'm enjoying this trip with my friends." Then he spun on his heel and strode out of the room leaving a fuming Seto in his wake. See? This is what happened when you followed your idiot brother's advice.

Mokuba watched Jou-kun as he left the bedroom and planted himself in front of the console next to Yugi once again, the thunderous expression on his face sweeped away as not to have Yugi ask him about what the brief discussion had been about. Mokuba stretched himself out on the soft carpet and closed his eyes with a slight smile. No matter, they had a backup plan.

"Jeez, Mokuba, 'm glad ye're enjoying yer birthday and all, but can we take it a little easier next year?" Jou pleaded, after staggering off another terrifying ride. Yugi laughed at his weary friend as the rest of the gang exited their seats. "Don't worry Jou-kun, I think that was the last one." He looked at Mokuba for confirmation and the dark haired teen nodded.

"Yup, we rode every single one."

Jou blanched and sank onto a bench, "that's good, I don't think I could've stomached another," he groaned out. "Besides, we should probably be getting back anyway," Mokuba said to Yugi, who nodded with a smile. Jou watched the interaction, "any part'cular reason?"

"Well," Yugi blushed lightly, "Yami and I are going out on a date tonight." He looked delightfully embarrassed as his yami wrapped his arms around him and dropped a kiss on his head. Jou raised an eyebrow, "so it's just us and the girls tonight?" He asked Mokuba, Otogi and Honda having disappeared earlier that afternoon already. The kid opened his mouth to respond, but Mai cut, "you wish," she said tartly, "Anzu and I have dates with the hot guys in room 3016." She linked her arm through the other girl's and after an apologetic smile from Anzu they swept off in the direction of the hotel.

"Looks like it's just you, me and nii-san, Jou-kun," Mokuba said cheerfully and pulled the elder boy up from the bench, "and nii-san said we could have dinner in the hotel's restaurant as celebration since he hasn't been spending a lot of time with me these past few days." Kaiba had also disappeared earlier in the afternoon after they had all decided it was either that or someone would throw that annoying cellphone away. Jou groaned as he was dragged towards the hotel, how the hell had it ended up that he was gonna be spending the evening with Kaiba anyway?

At 7.30 they moved down to the hotel's ground floor for their reservation, Kaiba merely having grunted in response to his brother telling him that it would only be the three of them. They had barely sat down and ordered drinks when Mokuba put his hands on his stomach, pulling a pained face. Kaiba was immediately frowning, he leaned towards his brother in concern, "Mokuba?" Mokuba scrunched his face up further, "ugh, I think all those rides are disagreeing with me," he mumbled. Kaiba made as if to stand up, "do you want me to take you up to the room, I'll have someone come and do a check up." A shake of Mokuba's head had his frown deepening, "don't worry about it, nii-san. I'll just go lie down a bit, I don't want you to waste the reservation." Kaiba looked as if he wanted to argue, but Mokuba had already risen, "it's fine, nii-san. Sorry Jou-kun," he said with a small smile at the two of them before he exited the restaurant.

Kaiba didn't lose his frown as his brother left, but finally he sat back with a sigh, "well, he has a point, we might as well finish dinner quickly and then have someone check up on him." He leaned forward again, taking the menu in his hand, not noticing the expression on Jou's face. For whom everything seemed to have clicked into place. "Ya know, I knew ya were a scheming bastard, but ta even use yer own brother ta get what you want and on his birthday too!"

Kaiba looked at him nonplussed before his own temper caught up and he snarled right back, "Do not think so highly of yourself," he hissed coldly, "and colour me surprised that the starving mutt is declining an invitation for food _twice_ in 24 hours!" Kaiba's pale long fingered hands were gripping the table tightly.

"I. ain't. A. Mutt."

Jou snapped loudly and jumped up from the table, "and ya can bet yer whole fortune on it that I won't ever be accepting any invitation from you, ya cold hearted, arrogant prick!" He turned, stormed past their frightened looking waiter and right out of the restaurant, leaving Kaiba alone in the midst of many curious stares. With a soft sigh, Kaiba stood up from the table and pushed a hefty amount into the slack hands of the girl standing next to the table, "I apologize for the disturbance," he muttered quietly and was gone before the girl could be surprised about Kaiba Seto apologising.

Mokuba grinned mischievously as he joined his friends in the lobby and they made their way up to the penthouse. "That's part one of the plan accomplished, now it's all up to them." He said with a satisfied expression as he dropped down in an armchair. Yugi didn't look quite as convinced, "you think it's going to work?" he asked, a little worriedly, "both Jou-kun and Kaiba-kun can be pretty stubborn." Mokuba shrugged, "it'll be fine, besides tonight is just phase one of the plan."

"What plan?"

Everyone jerked around at the growl from the door. Jou stood framed in the light coming from the elevator. "What plan?" He repeated as he stalked into the room, glaring at his friends. Yugi looked at his boyfriend and then at his friend, both returned his slightly worried look. "Jou-kun! What're you doing here?" Mokuba asked quickly, if Jou-kun was here looking like that, then an equally angry nii-san couldn't be far behind.

"Explain!"

"Well, you see, we just thought that you and nii-san could spend some time together, maybe work things out…"

Mokuba trailed off at Jou's expression.

"You guys planned all this?"

"Um, yes?"

"What about what Kaiba asked me last night?"

"I suggested it."

"Why?"

"Well, as I said, I was just hoping you guys could spend some time together."

Jou raised an eyebrow, "so ya were tryin' ta set me up with Kaiba?" He asked in disbelief and watched as all three his friends nodded guiltily. They watched as his face fell, "aw, crap," he muttered and moved over to sit on the couch. He raised his head to glare at them, "ya know what I said ta him? I thought he was just bein his asshole self! Now I gotta apologise and it's all yer fault!" His friends looked properly chastised, even as he himself felt he was being a little harsh, it wasn't as if they'd known he would snap at Kaiba. _Well they shoulda damn well guessed_, and unforgiving part of his mind answered, the same part also pointing out how royally he'd fucked up his chances with the tall brunette.

Heads raised collectively as the elevator pinged open again. Jou jumped up from his seat as Kaiba came into view. He opened his mouth, just to close it again when they heard Kaiba's voice.

"How the hell did you manage to do this? Do you know what time it is? The program launch is in a week!"

He moved past the four in the living area, right into the master bedroom where he slammed the door shut, but not before they heard his last words, "I'll be there in the morning, keep everything on ice and for heaven's sake don't fuck anything else up."

Mokuba sighed, knowing this signalled the end of his nii-san's holiday. Moments later Kaiba exited the bedroom again, his luggage in his hands. He moved right past the still upright Jou and gripped his brother's chin gently.

"I have to get back, I know this is earlier than scheduled, but something came up." Mokuba nodded dejectedly as Kaiba let go of him, "I had my secretary book flights for you and I'll leave the itinerary at the front desk, please do not miss your flights and call if any problems arise." Mokuba nodded again and followed his brother to the elevator where he gave him a quick hug and watched sadly as he left, phone already tucked against his ear.

Kaiba sat in his office, it was already two weeks after the amusement park fiasco. The program launch had gone off without a hitch, development running smoothly the moment he had come back to supervise. It wasn't that he employed incompetent people, after all that would reflect badly on him, it was just that in a company as big as Kaiba Corp problems slipped in, be it because of miscommunication or memo's that got misplaced or a million other smalls but crucial details that went unnoticed.

However, the thing that preoccupied the CEO's considerable attention as he sat behind his desk and desperately tried to focus on work, was not his company, but a certain blonde mutt.

He would admit, that he had been terribly shaken by what Jounouchi had accused him of, not that he was a scheming bastard, no Kaiba took quite a lot of pride in that fact. What had gotten him down, was that the mutt had _really _thought that he would _use _Mokuba like that. Thinking about it had the brunette clenching his hands and closing his eyes once again, they had had their fights over the years and had certainly never really seen eye to eye, but _even _so, the idea that the blonde thought so little of him, made him cringe inside. Kaiba placed his elbows on his desk and leaned his head into his hands, a small sigh escaping him. Had he been the only one to enjoy their verbal sparring?

He straightened when the intercom buzzed and his secretary notified him of Mokuba's arrival. His brother had been strangely docile since coming back from their trip and it worried Seto. Even now as Mokuba entered the office, gave him his customary hug and settled on the sofa against one wall of the spacious office, his usual cheerfulness was absent.

"Mokie?"

Mokuba looked up from the game he was playing.

"Yes, nii-san?"

"Is something wrong?"

Mokuba looked at him for a moment then turned his eyes back to the game, he mumbled something incoherent. Seto frowned and went to sit down next to the dejected teen, "What was that?"

"I'm sorry I made such a mess of things with Jou-kun." The boy whispered.

Seto was taken aback, he had seriously not thought that Mokuba would blame himself for that mishap. He let out another sigh and twisted his brother's chin so the younger boy would meet his eyes, "Mokuba," he said sternly, "what happened between me and Jounouchi was not your fault. I warned you that there were many issues between the two of us. It's not as though I was expecting a miracle."

"But you like him!" Mokuba wailed jerking out of Seto's grip his eyes glittering with unshed tears, "why can't you guys work it out?"

Seto looked back at his brother, unsure of what to say. _Because I'm a bastard. Because claiming that the reason you have been tormenting someone for years is because you like them is not something that is acceptable after middle school. Because sometimes things just don't work out the way you want them to. _Mokuba would not accept these as valid reasons, he had not grown up the same way Seto had, he did not understand that sometimes you had to let go of that which you wanted badly. He would never understand because he was gentle, kind and caring.

They were suddenly interrupted by another squawk of the intercom, Seto frowned, he didn't have any meetings this afternoon. He walked closer and pressed the talk button, "yes?"

"One Jounouchi Katsuya here to see you, sir. He says he does not have an appointment, but since your afternoon is free, I thought…" His secretary trailed off. Seto shot a look a Mokuba, his little brother seemed to have gone through one of his lightening mood changes and he was looking at Kaiba with a relieved, hopeful expression. Seto raised a warning eyebrow at him, _don't let this go to your head_, he thought at both both of them.

"Send him in."

Mokuba opened a side door and slipped into the game room Seto had made for his use, giving his brother a thumbs up before softly closing the door. Seto arranged himself behind his desk, he felt unusually nervous, likely because he had no idea what the puppy would have to say to him.

The door opened and the puppy walked in, looking more flustered than usual, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. An awkward silence settled over them as the puppy stood before him, surprisingly Seto broke first, "What?" _Shit_, he hadn't meant to sound to pissed, why the hell did his mouth always work before his brain where the puppy was involved. He clenched his jaw waiting for a sharp retort, but the puppy stood his ground, almost as if he hadn't heard him.

"Well, ya see, I wanted ta apologize earlier, but ya haven't been ta school these past few days, besides I don't want a peanut gallery and shit I don't mean that I'm expecting ya te forgive me, I was a real jerk, it's not like you knew what was goin on and I shoulda figured out that you wouldn't use Mokie like tha'. Ye love the kid, but I was pissed an' embarrassed and thinkin all sorts of stupid stuff, but I really just wanted ta apologise, ya know? So ye could know that I didn' do it on purpose, well no I did it on purpose, but I felt real bad when I realised ya didn' know an' I wanted te say sorry, but ye weren't around…"

"Jounouchi stop." Kaiba said finally, the puppy was going round and round in circles. He felt a genuine smile tug at his lips, it was kind of cute. "It's fine, I could have handled the situation better myself. You definitely were not the only one in the wrong."

Jou's mouth hung open as he stared at the CEO, he didn't know if he was more surprised by the apology or by the smile gracing his features. "Um, right, so now that ya know, I'll just take my leave, wouldn' wanna bother you further." He turned and had his hand on the door before Kaiba spoke his name.

"Jounouchi."

He turned, "yeah?"

"Perhaps we could be…friends?"

He smiled at Kaiba's uncharacteristic hesitancy, "friends, sure," he echoed and turned back to the door. He was getting to see new sides to Kaiba today.

Kaiba stared at the puppy's back as he prepared to leave for a second time. _Fuck it_, he thought, he didn't really want to be the puppy's friend. With that in mind he rose from his seat and was at the blonde's side in a few strides where he gripped his shoulder and spun him quickly. Jou stared up at him, shocked immobile at the sudden turn of events. With Kaiba so near he instinctively flinched, thinking the CEO was going to share out a slap or two after all.

He never even saw the kiss coming, one moment he'd squeezed his eyes shut and the next Kaiba's lips were moving over his own, he hands on Jou's hips pressing him flush against the door and a skilled tongue teasing his lips open. In a daze Jou let himself be dominated, still not quite on top of events, even as he was returning the kiss.

Finally Kaiba could bear to drag his lips away from the warm, pliant flesh beneath him. Jou's faced was flushed and he was panting, "friends don't do that," he mumbled stupidly. The kiss had left him almost cross-eyed. Kaiba smirked and leaned his forehead against the puppy's. "Fuck being friends," he murmured, dragging his thumb over the blonde's moist lower lip. "Boyfriends maybe," he said as he finally pulled away, cringing at the back of his mind at his own corniness. Jou, having finally managed to gather some of his escaped wits looked at Kaiba, "maybe," he finally said, causing the brunette to narrow his eyes at him, "but not before we get ta know each other, kay?" Kaiba leaned closer again, "what about kissing?" He breathed against the blonde's skin. Jou shivered, his wits threatening to escape again. "Kissin's fine as long as ya know ya ain't getting anything more for the time bein." After another narrow look Kaiba leaned back into him.

"I can accept that…for the time being."


End file.
